NCJ Number
78238
Date Published
1981
Length
76 pages
Annotation
This evaluation report describes the reorganization of the court division of the Clerk of the Court's Office of the New Orleans Criminal District Court; the 12-month project was funded by LEAA.
Abstract
Before reorganization, each of the 10 sections of criminal district court was assigned its own docket clerk and 1 or 2 deputy clerks. The reorganization changed this arrangement by functionally dividing the labor under the supervision of two court division heads; all docket and deputy clerk were assigned to a single room. A runner system was established to carry records to and from the court, thereby reducing the amount of time the docket clerks was required to be away. Evaluation of the reorganization relied primarily on interviews with trial court division personnel. The greatest difficulty encountered during reorganization involved convincing previously autonomous workers to learn prescribed methods of functioning and to accept the supervision of court division heads. As an example of dissatisfaction, during the reorganizational year, 7 of 10 docket clerks resigned or were dismissed. Subsequently, the clerk of the court put a freeze on hiring, increased the salary of docket clerks, and alleviated a serious morale problem. Questionnaires completed by criminal district court judges revealed that 75 percent of the judges characterized the new system as an improvement over the old. Statistics revealed that although the division had approximately the same number of employees after reorganization as before, it was able to produce more work than it had previously. Recommendations to further improve service include stabilizing the trial court division staff, extending training to those hired before the fall of 1980, instituting additional control procedures, and improving the proofreading of subpoenas. Four figures, seven tables, and nine appendixes are provided. (Author abstract modified)